well, there are two schools of thought. One is that all Haibane are suicides, the other that only the sinbound are.

I think that there is more evidence for the former, simply because it allows for a better rationalization of why there are humans in Glie, or nenshogoumi (Of all interpretations I still lean most heavily towards Steven’s, but even his well-considered analysis doesn’t answer the basic question above.

It can’t be original sin – because recall that Rakka is not sinbound until Kuu leaves and she sinks into depression. And in fact the Washii explicitly says “Your wings and halo are proof that you have no sin to be atoned for in this world” – this world, not the previous.

Reki is characterized by the Washii as having shut herself within the Circle of sin after the incident with Hyohko. But Reki’s wings were black out of the cocoon, so if there is original sin it mustt be from her pre-cocoon existence. Why was she on those train tracks? What made her situation so much worse?

After all, Rakka had a family that loved her, and she didn’t realize it, and selfishly killed herself thinking no one would miss her when she was gone. Imagine the pain that her suicide inflicted on her family… surely Rakka would be sinbound from the start? Since not, then possibly Reki’s transgression was even worse – possibly involving the death of another innocent as a result of her actions.

Or – and this interpretation appeals to me more – being sinbound is a state that is related to existence in Glie itself. Again, refer to the Washii’s comment above.

And so I come full circle myself. If sinbound is a function of Glie, then why was Reki sinbound from the start?

Interesting. I hadn’t read anything about Haibane Renmei before; I just watched the show. If all the Haibane are suicides (which is certainly plausible), then I agree that there is no obvious reason for Reki to be sinbound from the cocoon.

One interesting possibility is that Reki was not really sinbound from birth. It was just her misfortune to be born alone, and then have her wings erupt, without anyone there for her. This could be the root of her conviction that no one really ever is going to help her when in need.

Since being sin bound is related to guilt, perhaps she felt that the pain of her entry to the world was deserved somehow – a sin she did not knw the details of but given her blank slate assumed existed. So, she entered the circle of sin immediately and then the experience with Hyohko utterly transfixed her guilt into stone. Small stone..

Except that in the flashback picture which shows Reki laying alone in that room, her wings are already black.

My own opinion is that it isn’t so much a question of sin as of self-hatred. In other words, it’s actually more a matter of depression. And Reki could have been suffering from depression from the very first. Rakka, on the other hand, started without being depressed, but fell back into her depression after Kuu left.

Except that in the flashback picture which shows Reki laying alone in that room, her wings are already black.

true, Steven – but that is still compatible with Reki *not* being sinbound out of teh cocoon. Recall that Rakka was utterly helpless for a bit after being born, recovered slightly, and then the wing fever hit her hard. Reki could have been born, awoken, then succumbed to the agonizing pain of her wings – all alone in a dark and boarded-up room . As she lost consciousness from the wing fever and subsequent pain, that was probably when she would have internalized feelings of guilt and lonliness and being abandoned.

We see Kuramori discover her well after that – Reki regains consciousness but the damage to her psyche is already done.

I agree that depression is a factor. But is just being depressed alone enough to enter the circle of sin? If so then why didn’t Nemu enter it in her youth – we see her crying on the librarian’s shoulder. Or Hyohko,or Midori – presuambly all of them were depressed or angry at some point. I imagine that anger shoudl qualify in that case as much as depression – both are “impure” emotional states compared to the tranquility that Haibane are supposed to achieve.

I’m starting to think this is the only possible interpretation that is consistent with all Haibane being suicides. I have an evening commute ahead and will think on it some more 🙂

Despair isn’t depression. Nemu crying on the librarian’s shoulder is, in fact, a healthy sign and shows that Nemu wasn’t suffering from depression. Someone who suffers from depression cries alone, if indeed they cry at all.

ah, ok you’re right. Well, I suppose that it is possible that Reki was born into Guri with a weight of depression from her pre-cocoon existence (and the trauma of her death besides). But I still don’t see why Rakka wouldn’t also be sin-bound as well. Is it just a matter of degree? Rakka clearly was depressed as well, enough to blind her to the close family that loved her and to feel she was alone. “Involved Nut” indeed…

I think I’m going to settle on the “Reki was not sin-bound from birth – just shortly after” -interpretation. It’s not incompatible with the depression interpretation of being sin-bound.

I would make it a point to give in to despair as soon as possible and get some black wings. They would give me that brooding, dangerous look.

That’s right baby, I’m the kind of haibane your mother warned you about.

More Seriously:

I find it interesting that the Washii is so cryptic with his help. On a lesser series I would assume this was to protect the plot, but here I think the Washii has a reason for holding back. He never says “you must do such-and-such” to be freed of sin. He knew the other name for Reki, so in some ways it seems he knew more about Reki than Rakka or even Reki herself, yet he was very vague about how she could be helped. Certainly he didn’t want her to remain sinbound.

And now I realize I’m not going anywhere with this: I just think it’s interesting.

I’ve always been of a mind that (in conjunction with the suicide theory) the black wings were a result of the Haibane lapsing back into the behavior/state-of-mind that lead them to commit suicide.

Reki was always fighting the belief that she’s destined to be alone, because “everyone leaves me eventually.” I do like the idea that she may have been born with grey wings, but as we saw with Rakka, the chances are also good she gained consciousness before sprouting her wings. In that set of circumstances, it would be very easy for her to lapse back into her feelings of utter loneliness.

Rakka’s situation was different. She was fine at first, because the oppurtinity to lapse into her unique Sin didn’t hit until later. Rakka was disturbed by how no one seemed overly saddened by Kuu’s departure. By her own words in the well, we get a glimpse of what she was like prior to coming to Guri. She wanted to disappear and didn’t expect anyone to notice her passing. It was discovering that the Raven was someone who really did not want Rakka to go that broke her free of her own Circle.

The best I can come up with on limited time is:

Reki-Everyone leaves me, and I’m utterly alone. I want to die.

Rakka-Everyone ignores me. They probably wouldn’t even notice I was gone. I want to die.

The difference is subtle, but that’s what I got from thinking through their individual circumstances and quotes.

that place is the purgatory to temporally take care of born dead kids because they didnt recived baptismally, all the others “older” haibane did something really wrong in their stupid younger innocence (rakka falls with somebody inside the pit /-maybe she was joking and his brother tried to save her-\) (reki committed suicide) this is the reason coz somebody born older still there for so long because they cannot find the peace and cannot find the forgiven. Even this, if they doesnt remember and asks for his help (god’s help) they will end their time and lose wings and being normal person called as Tooga or .. the worst way if they dislike this “reborn” finding it bad too and negate te salvation (as Reki at last lost hopes) the Hell is coming to take them. Well .. the crows.. they have no matches with haibane, they are not bad but for some reason they got a punishment in purgatory (not bad as being sent in hell) but are trapped in a crow form as a negative existence.. so they are invidious of haibane and desire the ascent (this is the reason coz they partecipate to the ascents and coz they helped Rakka to remember)

I thought it was sad when people in the village gave her mean looks at Reki because she was sinbound. She was sinbound because she couldn’t rememeber her whole dream in the cacoon. Sadly this is my first time watching the anime.
Reki means “pebble” in Japanese Kanji (I think) and so her dream was walking on a stone path and everything else was dark. Just because of that she can’t go beyond the walls. I think the “suicide” thing works too. Reki’s real sweet. She’s giving all she can to Rakka…to be by her side.